Never stop praying.

In our verse for the day, Paul teaches his church to “never stop praying.” Many of us have taken this to mean that we should always and at all times be in a state of prayer. And that’s a wonderful idea; however, it is often used as an excuse for not treating prayer as a discipline. My Greek professor taught me that this verse means something more like “don’t let anything stop your regular prayer times.” This means that Paul assumed people kept regular prayer times.

Paul’s churches were a mix of Jews and Gentiles. All the earliest followers of Jesus were Jewish. So, we can be certain that daily Christian prayer is something inherited from Jewish practice. In Daniel 6:11 and Psalms 55:18 both mention praying three times a day—even in exile! While not a command, praying three times per day was a traditional discipline of Jewish faith and has become a Christian one as well. In the history of the church, monks have kept daily prayer; they pray between five and seven times per day.

The amount of daily prayer you keep is not a contest, but it should be a ritual, in the best sense of the word. If you are constantly in a state of prayer, that’s great. But if you are like me, you need the practice of daily prayer like you need regular exercise. Without it, we become unhealthy. Perhaps you will freely express your thoughts to God three times per day. Or, perhaps you need some help. If you do, you can pray the Psalms, the Lord’s Prayer, or even prayers from the prayerbooks of liturgical churches. Try “The Jesus” Prayer. It goes like this: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

By Daniel Rodriguez, Bible League International staff, Texas U.S.